After a fourth successful year, GottaCon 2013 is set to take place on February 1st to 3rd, 2013 at the Pearkes Recreation centre in Victoria, BC. The 2012 show saw an increase in attendance which exceeded 1,500 individual attendees and attendance for the 2013 show is expected to continue to grow.

GottaCon is a three-day broad spectrum gaming convention that is held annually on the first weekend in February in Victoria, British Columbia. GottaCon celebrates the science fiction and fantasy genres, covers many related hobbies and offers a one stop experience for the fans and enthusiasts of those genres.

The vision of GottaCon is to host something for everyone including free-play and tournaments in board games, collectible/non-collectible miniatures, collectible trading cards, role-playing games, and electronic gaming as well as demonstrations, contests, information sessions, workshops, a variety of exhibitors.

Our goal is to deliver a high quality and exciting environment that will establish GottaCon as an annual destination that participants will return to for years to come. Our 2013 event, called GottaCon 2013, will be our fifth show. The convention doors open at 5:00pm Friday and do not close until 7:00pm Sunday (around the clock gaming for an entire weekend).

If you still haven&#8217;t experienced what GottaCon has to offer then you should definitely check out our 2013 show. For more information, please visit our web site at www.gottacon.com or e-mail one of the owners or our staff at the following addresses:

We will also be making numerous announcements over the next few weeks around sponsors, events and developments so please keep an eye on our website at www.gottacon.com, facebook group and twitter account to stay up to date.

We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you at our convention013

As GottaCon entered its fifth show year it was decided that even more help was needed to handle the ever growing workload associated in running and improving a gaming convention. We just wanted to take a moment and introduce the individuals that will be helping to deliver our biggest and best show ever. We are very excited to have these individuals onboard this year and we hope you are too!!

This announcement is a quick update on the status of our exhibitor booth availability, sponsorship/advertising options and a first look at our preliminary floor plan for GottaCon 2013.

GottaCon Conventions is excited to release the preliminary floor plan for GottaCon 2013. As you can see, via the link below, this year we continue to host events in over 24,000 square feet of space and we have modified some of the areas to meet demand! Some of the features new to GottaCon 2013 that you might notice from this floor plan are as follows:

We have expanded our board game, trading card game, video game and role playing game areas to keep up with demand.

Warhammer 40K and Fantasy as well as Warmachine/Hordes championships are back and bigger than ever!! We continue to up our capacity to accommodate.

Video games were a huge hit last year and in response to that we will be dedicating a lot of effort this year into improving it. This year the video game console area will be back featuring Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii with lots of great casual as well as competitive tournaments and freeplay.

We have expanded our computer LAN capacity an additional 50% to a total of 120 BYOC seats. As always attendees are encouraged to bring their own systems and jack into our LAN at no extra cost but seats can be reserved by purchasing our new full weekend BYOC pass. The LAN will feature casual as well as competitive tournaments and freeplay. We will not have public play systems available for tournament play.

GottaCon exhibitor booths, for the first time, are currently sold out. We have a waiting list available and encourage you to place your name on it if you are interested in promoting your business and the many fine items you have for sale at our 2013 show as booth space may open up or expand. Also if you know of a business you would like to see at GottaCon 2013 please let us know and we will contact them. Below please find a link to our exhibitor information package.

Are you looking for ways to market your business/product to the gaming world? Well becoming a sponsor of GottaCon 2013 is a great way to do just that. Our sponsorship/advertising packages are very affordable and reach the audience you desire. For more information please see our sponsorship and advertising information package.

GottaCon Conventions is pleased to announce that Howard Johnson Hotel Victoria, Ramada Victoria and Travelodge Hotel Victoria are our three accommodations sponsors for GottaCon 2013. Each hotel offers great services and special convention pricing to our attendees. Please find below a brief description of the rooms and prices at each of the hotels. For more details on each sponsor please visit the hotel page on our website.

Please be aware that the hotels sold out of rooms last year so book your rooms as soon as possible! When you call to book your room at any of these locations please mention you are attending the GottaCon convention and quote the reservation code CGOTTO to benefit from our special room rates. The GottaCon 2013 room rates are as follows:

In addition to the room amenities above each hotel offers a range of other amenities. Please visit our website to discover what each has to offer.

We urge all our in/out of town guests that require accommodations to use our hotel sponsors to help us forge lasting relationships that benefit everyone involved. Remember to mention you are attending the GottaCon convention and quote the reservation code CGOTTO to benefit from our special room rates.

Once again, we are pleased to have the Howard Johnson Hotel Victoria, Ramada Victoria and Travelodge Hotel Victoria as sponsors of our convention on the weekend of February 1st to 3rd, 2013.

GottaCon tickets are now available for purchase from our Buy Tickets page on our website as well as at numerous retail locations (see list below). There are different prices for each day as well as a full weekend pass price, family package prices, special packages which include entry into some of the major events as well as the option to add on a premium video game pass and/or a GottaCon 2013 t-shirt and dice set (more on this later). There are a number of reasons why you should get your tickets in advance of the big show.

* If you purchase your ticket in advance you receive $10 off on your full weekend pass (you pay $40 instead of $50).
* Once you have purchased a ticket and our warhorn site goes live in November you will be able to sign up to our Warhorn Site where, once we approve your account, you can start to preregister for events in advance. You will also be able to change your events at anytime up until preregistration is closed. Preregistration helps to ensure your seat at the events you want as seating at most events is limited. It also avoids you having to stand in the event registration lines the days of the convention to sign up for the events you want.

!!!NEW AND VERY IMPORTANT!!!
* There are limits on the number of different passes this year. Limits are noted in each pass type on our website.
* If you purchase your tickets via Paypal you will receive a confirmation email and a separate email within 24 to 48 hours of purchase with a unique code. You must bring a copy of this email/code with you to gain entry to our event this year.
* If you purchase your tickets via a store location you will receive a ticket from the store with a unique code. You must bring this ticket with you to gain entry to our event this year.
* When you show up we will enter the code into our database and check you in. Without this code we will not be able to check you in and thus you will not be able to enter GottaCon 2013.
* This year we will have "Will Call" which means starting at 1:00pm Friday February 1, 2013 you can come to the entrance to GottaCon 2013 and check in, receive your badge and be told a location where, once the doors open, you will be able to enter the event simply by presenting your pass. Will Call is only available to advance ticket holders. This is in an effort to relieve the line congestion we saw at our 2012 show.

For a full list of ticket types and prices, as well as retail locations where you purchase tickets please visit our website.

GottaCon is pleased to announce that it will be hosting larger Warmachine/Hordes tournaments at GottaCon 2013 on February 1 to 3, 2013. Come take part in what will surely be the largest Warmachine/Hordes event ever to have been run in BC. This event is sponsored in part by Privateer Press and One Stop Shop Cards and Games. Please visit our website for full details.

GottaCon is pleased to announce that it will once again be hosting Warhammer tournaments in Warhammer 40K, Warhammer Fantasy and War of the Ring at GottaCon 2013 on February 1 to 3, 2013. Come take part in an even larger Warhammer event then last year! This year we are excited to have KR Multicase as our headline sponsor for our feature events and Imperial Hobbies as our sponsor for our additional Warhammer events.

Once we receive your message outlining your interest we will contact you via email with information on what to do next.

Benefits for event coordinators will be the same as last year which was 33% discount off of a full weekend pass (not including special packages) or $11.90 discount off of any ticket you purchase for each slot of events you run. Run three or more events get a free weekend pass (valued at $35.71). All discounts are valued before HST pricing, the maximum discount value is $35.71. If you are attending for the full weekend you will also receive a swag bag and be granted early access to the convention Friday if you show up between 4:00pm and 5:00pm. This is in an effort to get you in before the rush which will allow you time to check out the exhibitors and the rest of the convention.

This year we will continue to award draw tickets to those people that participate in events labeled as a demonstration in an effort to get people trying out a variety of games. These draws will happen at the end of each slot (from 9am to 11pm each day) on top of the door prize draws and other giveaways.

Also new this year is we will be shutting down the video gaming area at 4am each night. This is due to observed attendance levels in those areas after 3am for the last four years. Security will be posted in the area between 4am and 8am and only staff will be allowed access. It will also give us time to cool down the servers, reset the routers and deal with patching, hardware issues etc that develop over the weekend.

The warhorn site is now ready for advance ticket holders to create accounts and start signing up for events. Please keep in mind that events will be continuously added over the weeks to come and we will provide updates on what was added on the site listed above starting November 9, 2012. On or around December 1, 2012 an excel and PDF version of our event listing will be available on our website as well.

How to Pre-Register for Events:
1) Pre-purchase a ticket via our website, warhorn site or store location
2) Go to the GottaCon 2013 Warhorn site.
3) Create a user account
4) Wait for GottaCon Staff to clear you (remember only people who have purchased tickets can pre register for events). You will receive an email letting you know you have been cleared.
5) Once you have been cleared, you browse the event listing (while logged in).
6) Then you sign up for the events you want

If you are organizing an event, an exhibitor or special guest at our show please let us know which event or which exhibitor and we will clear your account.

If you don't get a chance to pre-register for events, there will be a registration desk at GottaCon where you can sign up for the event you want. But why wait when you can sign up now, get through the doors faster and secure your seat at the games you want to play!

GottaCon is pleased to announce that it will be adding Malifaux to our list of Miniature based tournaments at GottaCon 2013 on February 1 to 3, 2013. This year we are excited to have Wyrd Miniatures sponsor our feature and side Malifaux events.
GottaCon and Wyrd Miniatures are proud to present an exciting lineup of Malifaux tournaments throughout the weekend. Prizes will be awarded individually in each tournament, and the player with the most combined tournament points for the weekend will earn the title of GottaCon 2013 Malifaux Champion! Purchase of a GottaCon Malifaux ticket package ($50 until January 22, 2013 $60 after that) secures a place in each Malifaux tournament and is required for pre-registration and entry in the &#8220;First into the Breach&#8221;, &#8220;One Way Ticket&#8221;, and &#8220;Masters of Malifaux&#8221; Events, as well space is limited to 16 players for the three mentioned events.

For full information on the five tournaments that will take place over the GottaCon 2013 weekend please visit our website.

GottaCon is pleased to announce that it will be hosting a miniature painting contest at this year&#8217;s convention. If you are a fan of painting miniatures then this event should interest you. Entry into this event is free and there are trophies for each category.

Categories are open to any scale model from any genre or manufacturer. There are three categories that attendees can submit an entry into (limit of one entry per category per person) which include:
* Single Figure
* Large Figure
* Squad or Group

Full details on this event which include competition rules and regulations, category size restrictions and judging criteria can be found here.

Entry forms will be available at the miniatures tournament reporting booth during GottaCon 2013 (February 1st to 3rd, 2013). If you have any questions regarding this event please speak to Paul Puhallo by email at ppuhallo@gottacon.com.

Once again Yellowjacket Comics and Toys along with a team of certified DCI judges will be running our Magic: The Gathering events at GottaCon 2013. Yellowjacket, spearheaded by Nelson Salahub, and the team are sure to deliver an exciting lineup of events and prizes. Also this year we have confirmed convention support from Wizards of the Coast which has once again allowed us to deliver some extra great events with cool prizes!

A new and VERY important detail this year is there is a set limit of 150 MTG Weekend Passes available for purchase this year. At the time of writing we are already 12% sold out. If you want to receive maximum value with regards to MTG events at GottaCon 2013 get one of these passes before they are sold out. The advance ticket price (until January 22, 2013) is $65 HST included. At the door (if there are any left) they will be $70 HST included. Entry into the MTG events at GottaCon will still be possible without an MTG weekend pass but only while seating is available and you will need to pay each individual events entry fee on site at the Yellowjacket tournament reporting centre.

As mentioned above Wizards of the Coast is supporting our convention (thank you Wizards!) and as a result we will be hosting three fantastic special events again this year. These events are a Mini Master tournament, an all weekend Intro Deck Duels event and Gunslinging. How these special events work is included in the event descriptions below.

The Magic the Gathering weekend pass this year will cost $65 taxes included and will include the following:
- Full weekend pass to GottaCon 2013 (valued at $40)
- Entry into the VIMC MTG Open event which consists of one Standard Constructed Flight event and one Sealed Gatecrash Event (valued at $40)
- FNM Standard Constructed "I Flailed in the Flights" Event (valued at $5)
- Free entry into the Mini Master event (valued at ($10)
- Free entry into the Intro Pack Convention League Event (valued at $15)

As you can see the value of the MTG weekend package is very good and we hope you are all as excited as we are.

Below find a brief list of the Magic: The Gathering events you will find at GottaCon 2013. If you would like to see more in depth information on these events please check out our major trading card game events section of our website.

Today we are pleased to announce the Video Game line-up for GottaCon 2013. Below please find our list of game systems, games and tournaments planned for GottaCon 2013, which will be held February 1st to 3rd, 2013 at Pearkes arena in Victoria BC (3100 Tillicum Road).

This is the biggest year for video gaming at GottaCon yet, and we don't just mean in size. Sponsors and prizing are insane! This year we are pleased to announce Logitech G-Series. as our official PC LAN sponsor and Mad Catz as our official console gaming LAN sponsor. We have numerous additional major sponsors and organizers for our video games area including: ROCCAT, Astro Gaming, Ubisoft (ShootMania: Storm), Torn Banner (Chivalry: Medieval Warfare), Kingston HyperX, Antec, GUNNAR Optiks, Future Shop Langford location, Island Collateral, End of Reality Game Servers, LANcouver, BC Gamer, IRL Events, eSports Collective Network, Canadian Joysticks and CrossXover. All of these fantastic companies have provided substantial support in the way of prizes and technology. Events sponsored by these companies are noted below.

We continue to have two types of tournaments in additions to our public stations and BYOC seats: premium tournaments and secondary tournaments. Premium tournaments require a BYOC weekend pass or the video game add-on package to be able to participate in. Premium events will be more competitive and have higher prize payouts. Secondary tournaments are free to any attendees and may have smaller prize pools. These events are meant to be casual, fun and easy to jump in and out of.

The events listed below only include high level information on each of our events. If you have any questions regarding events please contact Spencer at videogames@gottacon.com.

Whether you're a beginner or a veteran, you're welcome to strut your stuff at the GottaCon Costume Contest, sponsored by IRL Events and Dragon Impact. Compete with others to win a prize in one of several categories. Judging will be based on individual costumes. Skits will not be performed (sorry).

On Saturday February 2nd, from noon to 5pm, convention attendees can stop by the IRL Events booth and fill out a contest entry form. At that time their photo will be taken and each contestant will be assigned an entry number. Judge deliberation will begin at 5:30pm with contestants present so judges can ask questions and take a closer look at costumes. The winners will be announced at 6:00pm at the photo area next to the IRL Events booth. Prizes will be handed out following the announcements at the IRL Events booth.

Entry into this contest constitutes an agreement by the contestants to allow their photo to be taken by the contest organizers. Your photo may be used by GottaCon Conventions and IRL Events for promotional purposes at their discretion.

This will be the fourth annual GottaCon costume contest and we are very excited to host this annual event with the help of IRL Events!!

There are two major groups with categories for each group:

Group 1 - Novice:
This is it's your first time or you are new to costuming but still want to show off your awesome work. 50% purchased, 50% you made/modified.
* Best in show (Judge's Choice) - will receive a regular Cos & Effect pass, $100 prize from Dragon Impact and a gift certificate to Fabricland
* Runner Up - will receive a $50 prize from Dragon Impact and a gift certificate to Fabricland

Group 2 - Advanced:
You have some skills and you have done this before. You took great pride in your work and have spent a good deal of time and love to make what you wear. Any store bought parts must be heavily modified. Outfits must be at least 75% your own work.
* Best in Show (Judge's Choice) - will receive a VIP Cos & Effect pass, $100 prize from Dragon Impact and a gift certificate to Fabricland
* Runner Up - will receive a Regular Cos & Effect pass, $50 prize from Dragon Impact and a gift certificate to Fabricland
* Best Prop - will receive a gift certificate to Fabricland

There are also two prize categories that everyone qualifies for:
* Best Craftsmanship - $50 prize from Dragon Impact
* Best Gaming - $50 prize from Dragon Impact

For a full list of rules and what the judges are looking for please visit our site.

On Saturday February 2th only between 9:00am and 6:30pm, come out and take part in the GottaCon Gamers Silent Auction brought to you by GottaCon Conventions. Convention goers are welcome to bring out their own items for sale as well as bid on the wide variety of items that will be available. We stress patience with convention staff as it takes time to enter all the information of submitted items and when the auction is complete to record all the results. If you would like to fill out a form and bring it with you to the convention please download the form here. Also this year we are looking to set up self-serve computers where you can fill out your forms and print them for our staff.

What is a silent auction?
In this type of auction, items are put on display. To place a bid, bidders write on a piece of paper located near the item. The bidder will be able to see the bids made already and must bid at least the minimum amount specified higher than the current bid. The minimum increase over the current bid will be $1.00 unless otherwise indicated. Bidding closes after a pre-set period of time. The highest bidder at the end of the auction wins the item and pays the price submitted.

For more specifics on how the auction is run and how you can submit an item visit our website.

Some items that will be up for bid are:
- Board games new and used
- Tradable card games, singles and boosters
- Previously owned video games
- Video game systems
- Collectible/non-collectible miniatures and accessories
- Role-playing games old and new
- Books, comic books and animé
- Movies
- Many other gaming and hobby related items

The GottaCon auction provides a great opportunity to buy and sell all of your gaming and hobby related items at great prices. The previous three years have been hugely successful so make sure you check out the auction on Saturday!!

Please note that GottaCon Conventions reserves the right to refuse any items submitted for sale in the auction. All items must be registered with GottaCon staff at the special events area and a fee of $1.00 per item must be paid.

Panels of GottaCon 2013 &#8211; in order from Friday to Sunday
The Influence of D&D
So You Want to Become a Published Author
Digital Rights Management: The Pros and Cons
Standard Action: Exclusive Showing and Q&A
RPG Improv with Standard Action & Friends
GM Roundtable: Enhanced Storytelling
Film Screening: Project London
&#8220;Unusual&#8221; Fandoms: Bronies

For a complete list of details for each panel, including day and time, please visit our site.

Today we announce our board games line-up planned for GottaCon 2013. For a full list of board games and how to insure yourself a seat please visit our website.

GottaCon is proud to again be hosting The Great Canadian Board Game Blitz Qualifier
This epic board game tournament will have four rounds and a maximum of 28 players. Each round players will have to choose one of 7 board games to play, based on their ranking from the previous round (the first round will be determined randomly, and the second round will be the opposite order of the first round). Players earn points based on their ranking in each game, and at the end of the four rounds, the player with the most points will be crowned champion of the Blitz and invited to the finals held in Toronto at FanExpo. Each round will feature a specific board game company or companies.

GottaCon would like to thank all the event coordinators for making these events possible. For complete details on the above events including descriptions please download our event listing or view the events on the Warhorn site.

We hope you find a few games above to your liking and will come out to GottaCon 2013!

If you plan on attending GottaCon 2013 and the massively huge and impressive amount of games at it you should buy your ticket while it is still on sale and save yourself some cash. For instance a full weekend ticket can now be bought for $40 whereas after January 22nd they will cost you $50. Other pass options offer savings now as well, check our site for details. It just makes sense to buy them now. Go here to buy your tickets www.gottacon.com.

How and Where to Get Your Tickets
There are two ways to get tickets! Methods of payment that will be accepted will include:
1) Paypal - Pay from the comfort of your own home on our site
2) Purchase a ticket at a local participating retail locationThe Connection Games

IMPORTANT!
It is very important to remember that when you purchase your ticket that you include your first and last name and the full name of the individual(s) that the ticket(s) are for it is also helpful to include an email address or phone number in case there are any issues.
If you purchase your tickets via a store location you will receive a ticket from the store with a unique code. You must bring this ticket with you to gain entry to our event this year.
When you show up we will enter the code into our database and check you in. Without this code we will not be able to check you in and thus you will not be able to enter GottaCon 2013.
This year we will have "Will Call" which means starting at 1:00pm Friday February 1, 2013 you can come to the entrance to GottaCon 2013 and check in, receive your badge and be told a location where, once the doors open, you will be able to enter the event simply by presenting your pass. Will Call is only available to advance ticket holders. This is in an effort to relieve the line congestion we saw at our 2012 show.

GottaCon 2013 is two days away, starting at 5pm on February 1st, 2013 which will bring 50 straight hours of non-stop gaming goodness. Whether you like video games, trading card games, role playing games, miniatures, or board games we will have something for you. GottaCon also features a variety of exhibitors, discussion panels, a Lego kids build for the young and old, a costume contest as well as our ever popular silent gamer's auction. GottaCon is also happy to have increased our board game library this year which includes games from; Fantasy Flight, Days of Wonder, Rio Grande, Asmodee, Mayfair Games, Minion Games, Plaid Hat Games, Zman Games and others.

We are also pleased to release a link to our web version (PDF, 7MB) of the GottaCon 2013 Program. We hope you enjoy it!! You can find it
here.

We are expecting a great turn out this year with over 900 attendees before the doors even open.

A reminder that we will have early badge pickup (will-call) starting at 1pm and wrapping up at 4pm which is available to advance ticket holders, exhibitors, volunteers, guests, and event coordinators. Event pre-registration for these attendees is still available via our Warhorn site but will shut down on Tuesday January 29, 2013. All attendees will be able to register for events on site but if you can we highly suggest you do so in advance.

If you are part of the line-up on Friday to get through the doors please be patient as we work as hard as we can to get you in as fast as possible. We have implemented a new check-in system which should help streamline the process.

Still need a hotel? No problem, our convention rates are still available at our sponsor hotels, click here for more information.